Colorado has zero miles of coastline, isn’t known for lakes and most of its streams and rivers are too rugged — or cold — for a dip.

But when it comes to racing in the water, female high school athletes from the Centennial State leave others in their wake.

“The girls in Colorado are the best girls in the nation,” Lewis-Palmer coach Alan Arata said. “They’re better than the girls in California, they’re better than the girls in any other state. Missy Franklin, Bonnie Brandon — those are the top girls in the nation. And they’re not the only ones.”

Six Pikes Peak area teams, including Lewis-Palmer, will see Franklin, a sophomore at Regis Jesuit and a member of the U.S. women’s national team, and Brandon, a junior at Cherry Creek and a long-course junior national champion, this weekend at the 5A state meet in Fort Collins. Eight Colorado Springs teams also will be competing at the 4A state meet in Loveland.And make no mistake about it, not only will the top swimmers in Colorado be on hand but also some of the best in the United States.

See a breakdown of local swimmers competing this weekend

“I think the high-school age athletes in Colorado are as outstanding as any other place in the country,” said Pat Hogan, the club development managing director for Colorado Springs-based USA Swimming. “Colorado is at or near the top.”

On a per-capita basis, the data support the claim that Colorado girls are the nation’s best in the water.

California has long been considered the hotbed of swimming in the country, and the Golden State did have the top high school times in eight of 11 events in 2010 compared to two for Colorado. But consider the population of California (ranked first in the 2010 census) compared to Colorado (22nd) and the fact that Colorado times are not altitude adjusted, and John Denver’s adopted home seems to have a decent argument.

See a state-by-state comparison

And while altitude may help (when Colorado athletes compete elsewhere, their times are often faster), the real reason for Colorado’s climb seems to be what Arata called “the critical mass effect.”

“You get a couple of good swimmers and then because they’re there, the other ones that have that kind of talent rise up to that level,” he said. “So having those great swimmers is making the whole state rise up to that area. It just took one or two. And it didn’t really start with Missy and it didn’t start with Bonnie. It started with girls in front of them.”

Cheyenne Mountain coach Kate Doane said that while the Denver-area teams may be the powerhouses now, Colorado Springs held the edge in the early 1990s.

“Colorado swimming, Colorado Springs swimming — there is a legacy and it’s awesome,” she said.

And Doane didn’t discount current Springs-area teams either.

“We’ve got great swimming in Colorado Springs, from what’s going on at Cheyenne Mountain to up at Lewis-Palmer to Sarah (James) at Doherty,” she said.

James swam in the short-course junior nationals in December. And Lewis-Palmer’s Karin Roh said “there were plenty of Colorado kids making finals” at club sectionals — encompassing the entire western part of the country except for California — last summer in Oregon.

“Our entire mile (final), all eight of us were from Colorado,” said Cheyenne Mountain’s Ashley Forsyth, the defending 4A state champion in the 200-yard freestyle and 500 free.

Hogan said that one of the best things about swimming is the ability to track athletes from all different areas with objectivity.

“It’s always the same length pool,” he said.

Video previews: Class 5A l Class 4A

Swimmers from Lewis-Palmer and Rampart will see some of the nation’s top competition at this weekend’s Colorado 4A and 5A state meets. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Missy Franklin, a sophomore at Regis Jesuit, is shown reacting after winning the 200 backstroke at at event in Minneapolis. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bonnie Brandon, a Cherry Creek junior, races to first place in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle during the Los Angeles Grand Prix of swimming in July. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS